Companion Animal Psychology

A look back at the most popular articles and podcasts about dogs and cats over the last year. Maksym Gorpenyuk/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd PhD It's time for the annual list of the most popular posts of the year here at Companion Animal Psychology . And there's a countdown of the most popular podcast episodes too. You'll find a lot of wisdom about dogs and cats in these posts and episodes. My guest authors and interviewees are fun and inspiring in equal measure. So without further ado... The dog and cat posts of the year These were the top posts of the year on Companion Animal Psychology : 10. You can set your puppy up to be friends with your cat--if you get the intro right . 9. What are reward-based training methods for dogs (and cats)? 8. Understanding resource-guarding in dogs (and how to fix it) with Lisa Skavienski . (This is the blog post that accompanies episode 8 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation ).  7. What are cat pheromones and what do they do? 6. 3 more reason...

Season's Greetings from Companion Animal Psychology. Photo: dezy/Shutterstock A big thank you to all of my readers, listeners, and video viewers for your support this year. It is very much appreciated! Wishing you season's greetings, merry Christmas, and a very happy and healthy 2024. Zazie

Zazie and Kristi are joined by TikTok star Jennifer Malawey (Dizzy Dancing Dog) who shares her secrets about how to use social media to help dogs.   By Zazie Todd PhD Watch episode 14 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation on Youtube or below, listen via your favourite podcast app (including Apple , Spotify ) or below, or scroll down to read the highlights. As an Etsy affiliate and Marks and Spencer affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

There's a special episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation being recorded in January--and you're invited. By Zazie Todd PhD In January, Kristi Benson and I are recording a special episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation --and you are invited to submit questions and/or to attend.  We'll be answering listeners' questions about dogs, cats, and anything else you'd like to ask us.  What is The Pawsitive Post in Conversation ? The Pawsitive Post in Conversation is our podcast about how to have a better relationship with your pet. In every episode, we cover important topics in dog and cat behaviour, training, and animal welfare, often with invited guests. And at the end of each podcast we share the books we're reading.  You can find previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or on Youtube .  How do I ask questions for this episode? Anyone can submit questions in advance on this form . If you leave your name, we might read it out when we read out yo...

“A delight for past, present, and prospective pet owners. And for everyone else.”—David Steinberg, Albuquerque Journal By Zazie Todd PhD Find out what the Animal Book Club is reading this month. But first, here's a teaser: the first sentence of the book. This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. This month, we're reading The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us about Love, Life, and Mortality by Karen Fine, DVM. From the publisher, "A tribute to our furry, feathery, scaley, and wet family members, All Creatures Great and Small meets Being Mortal in this compelling memoir of one woman's dream to become a veterinarian. Karen Fine always knew that she wanted to be a vet and wasn't going to let anything stop her: not her allergy to cats, and not the fact that in the '80s veterinary medicine was still a mostly male profession. Inspired by her grandfather, a com...

The most common problems are fear, especially fear of loud noises, and not doing what the guardian wants, such as not coming when called. Photo: Mikkel Bendix/Pexels By Zazie Todd PhD New research published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior shows that if your dog has a behaviour issue, you’re not alone.  Importantly, the study is based on a representative sample of dog guardians in Denmark, which means the results are an accurate insight into all dogs there. The findings suggest that we need to pay more attention to behaviour issues in dogs. Dr. Iben Meyer (Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen), first author of the study, told me, “The estimated prevalence of owner reported behaviour problems in dogs was much higher than what is found in veterinary records from primary veterinary practice. This points to a need for veterinarians to focus more on screening for behaviour related problems and to provide a space for the owner where such issues can...

Can cats even be happy? And how do you know? Some tips to help please your feline. Photo: Christopher Schruff/Pexels By Zazie Todd PhD Stereotypes about cats can get in the way of looking after them. Most people think that cats are easy pets and that you don’t need to do much for them—but the more you do from a cat-centred perspective, the better your relationship with your cat will be.  One of the challenges for people who care about cat welfare is that a lot of people don’t pay attention to their cat. It’s as if they just assume that their cat is alright. And maybe they are alright (if you’re reading this blog, I’m sure they are, since you’re showing dedication to learning about cats!). But unfortunately, experts believe that the biggest issue that affects the welfare of pet cats is a home environment that is not set up right for them and that consequently can cause the development of behaviour issues in the cat (Rioja-Lang et al 2019).   This page contains affiliate ...

“Schott’s writing is engagingly conversational and showcases his colorful sense of humor … Educational, entertaining and compassionate, this confluence of happy accidents is a must-read for anyone who is, loves or works with a veterinarian.” ― Shelf Awareness By Zazie Todd PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. This month, the Animal Book Club is reading The Accidental Veterinarian: Tales from a Pet Practice by Philipp Schott DVM. From the publisher: "Cats, dogs, people ― funny and heartbreaking stories from a pet veterinarian With insight and humor, Dr. Philipp Schott shares tales from the unlikely path he took into his career of veterinary science and anecdotes from his successful small-animal clinic. Dr. Schott brings to his writing the benefit of many years of expertise. Wisdom he imparts on readers includes the best way to give your cat a pill, how to prevent your very handy dog from opening a fr...

Coats and sweaters may be necessary for cold weather--but your dog won't automatically like them. Here's how to teach your dog to wear a coat. Photo: Enna8982/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd PhD What’s your favourite thing about winter with your pets? A storm last Friday blew most of the leaves off the deciduous trees all at once. It felt like a sudden change to the season. Now the temperatures are colder, although there’s no sign of any snow in the forecast yet. There’s a strong El Niño this season and typically here on the west coast of BC that means warmer temperatures and more precipitation over the winter.  After we got Pepper 2.5 years ago, I discovered the joy of sweaters and coats for little dogs. My previous dogs, Ghost and Bodger, were both pretty big (okay, very big in Ghost’s case!) and had thick fur coats. They did not need sweaters. But because Pepper is small, he now has a little wardrobe of coats and sweaters, including a glittery reflective sweater for in the dark a...

Companion Animal Psychology is hosting an upcoming free webinar presented by Jane Wolff. By Zazie Todd PhD Companion Animal Psychology is co-hosting a free webinar presented by Jane Wolff of Good Wolff dog training called Training your dog to lay on their side: Overcoming training obstacles. It can be a tricky task to train some dogs to lay fully on their sides, but it’s a very useful behaviour for a ton of medical and grooming purposes—trimming nails is just the beginning! Join Jane Wolff, co-owner of Good Wolff and creator of the “Fresh and Fearless: Basic grooming made easy” course, who will troubleshoot typical issues with training dogs to achieve this position, a.k.a. lateral recumbency, in a short webinar.  Jane will review luring techniques and environmental management that can really jump-start your training and help you to get your dog comfortably laying down and ready for further training. She’ll also review why this position is useful and when to avoid training a dog to ...

I spoke with Jim Mora about fear and anxiety in dogs. By Zazie Todd PhD   A recent article in The Atlantic says that too many people have dogs and they can't take care of them properly, resulting in fearful and anxious pooches. Is it true? I joined Jim Mora on Radio New Zealand's Sunday Morning to answer his questions about fear and anxiety in dogs. You can listen to the recording here: Are we pathologizing normal pooch behaviour? Happy listening!

I chatted with Mikkel Becker on the Happy Paws podcast. By Zazie Todd PhD Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mikkel Becker for the Happy Paws podcast at Fear Free. I think the world of Mikkel and the work she does to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in pets, so I felt incredibly lucky to chat with her. We talked about demystifying cat behavior. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or on the Fear Free Happy Homes website . 

Zazie and Kristi chat with Victoria Schade, dog trainer and author of delightful romcoms, about writing about dogs and her upcoming book Unleashed Holiday .  By Zazie Todd PhD Watch episode 13 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation on Youtube or below, listen via your favourite podcast app  (including Apple , Spotify ) or below, or scroll down to read some of the highlights.  Victoria Schade, Unleashed Holiday, and writing about dogs In this episode we learn about the Puppy Bowl and Victoria's involvement in it as lead animal wrangler, and how she made the move to writing, first with nonfiction books about dog training and then to romcoms. We chat about how Victoria's books include real-life issues, and how she juggles the 'educator' and 'entertainer' hats.  Victoria’s upcoming book, Unleashed Holiday, will be published on September 26th. The main character is a vet, and Victoria tells us how she went about researching the life of a vet so that she could ...

The side-effects of aversive dog training methods that most people don’t know about--but should. Photo: Stock Rocket/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. By now, the idea that aversive training methods have risks for dogs is quite well known. Most of the research, especially in the early days, focused on the increased risks of fear, anxiety, stress, and aggression. Researchers also found a correlation between the use of aversive methods and a less well-behaved dog.  It’s worth noting that back in 2004, Hiby et al were already arguing that reward-based methods work better and have fewer risks to dogs’ welfare: “Because reward-based methods are associated with higher levels of obedience and fewer problematic behaviours, we suggest that their use is a more effective and welfare-compatible alternative to punishment for the average dog-owner.” Many studies have used questionnaire...

Pepper has entered a competition to become a Yellow Dog Brewing Star--and he'd like your vote. Photo: Zazie Todd By Zazie Todd, PhD My little dog Pepper has entered a competition to be a Yellow Dog Brewing Star--and he'd love it you'd vote for him. As a BC SPCA alumnus himself, Pepper knows first-hand the amazing work that they do at the BC SPCA. Pepper came to us at 10 years old, and is now 12-and-a-half. Pepper is a sweet Shih Tzu who loves everyone. His favourite things are 'killing' his toys, taking short walks, and sitting outside at barbecues. He loves to do tricks like sit pretty and rollover, and is an excellent companion, especially in the kitchen where pieces of carrot might come his way.  And he loves it when people tell him he's cute. So he's thrilled to be raising funds for the BC SPCA while maybe--just maybe--ending up on the label of a Yellow Dog Brewing beer. The winners of the contest will get to be featured on cans of a special limited-rel...

Get 15% off all Companion Animal Psychology merch with promo code LABOURDAY (or LABORDAY) valid until midnight Pacific time on Monday September 4th. By Zazie Todd PhD If you're looking for a new hoodie now that the weather is changing, the Companion Animal Psychology merch store has got you covered. Companion Animal Psychology merch celebrates our special relationship with our best friends, the importance of reward-based training, and letting dogs be dogs.  All designs are available as tanks, tees, hoodies, and sweatshirts. And don't miss our special Reward the Dog fanny pack! New this season, the Time for Walkies design is now available as a water-resistant coach jacket to protect you from the elements when you walk your dog. And the Companion Animal Psychology logo is available on a windbreaker and a new coach jacket in neutral shades to match your wardrobe. Check out all of the designs in the Companion Animal Psychology store . Use promo code LABOURDAY for 15% off until mi...